Original from: 360DX

Precision oncology company Novigenix said on Wednesday the successful first closing of a $20 million Series B round. 

The Lausanne, Switzerland-based company garnered $14 million upon first closing, with the remainder to be syndicated in the second closing, scheduled to take place within the first quarter of next year. 

"We have received commitments for 80 percent of the total round and [are] in discussion for the remaining 20 percent," Brian Hashemi, the firm's executive chairman, said by email. 

Novigenix plans to use the proceeds to fast track the clinical validation of its next-generation sequencing-based liquid biopsy colorectal cancer screening assay, as well as to develop new immunotherapy patient stratification assays. 

The company develops its assays via its Liquid Immuno-Transcriptomic Sequencing (LITOseek) platform, which combines machine learning with the analysis of disease-specific immune cell mRNA signatures to gain molecular insights and develop predictive algorithms for patient stratification and immunotherapy monitoring.

The firm recently signed a licensing agreement with Royal Philips to use the LITOseek platform to develop prostate cancer tests.

Source: Novigenix Raises $14M in First Closing of Series B